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“I’m a big fan of Van Dijk,” Keane said, while explaining his decision to partner the Dutchman with compatriot Jaap Stam in his combined XI.

‘The guy’s a machine, but Jaap was a machine, Jaap was fantastic. Van Dijk a touch better on the ball. The two of them together you can’t imagine conceding too many goals.”

Keane might not have been quite as complimentary towards some of Liverpool’s other centre-backs, but Van Dijk gets as close to anyone as full-on praise.

Mohamed Salah

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (Image: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Keane has recognised just how important Salah has been and highlighted how he has grown into a new player at Anfield.

“You can see how it affects the other attacking players, too, they don’t seem to get into their groove without him,” Keane said after the Egyptian missed Liverpool’s draw with Man Utd.

“Nobody could have seen over the past few years how much this guy was going to improve, and he’s a huge loss to them when he’s not available. Sometimes you don’t realise how good they are until they’re not available to you.

“He seems to affect the other two attacking players as much as anything else. You take them for granted, his goals and assists, and then when he’s missing you think ‘my goodness, he’s a big player for us’.”

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson

Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool

Even when Keane praises Liverpool players, he’ll occasionally find time for a dig amidst it all.

We saw this before Christmas, when he considered the Reds’ full-back pair to be on a different level to their direct opponents in the victory over Spurs.

“Okay, there’s parts of the game they can improve on defensively, but going forward, absolutely fantastic,” he said.

Look, it still counts, even if he couldn’t bring himself to give unqualified praise to the duo on that occasion.

Alexander-Arnold was also the closest Liverpool player to joining Van Dijk in that combined XI, with Keane admitting the right-back has been “outstanding” this season but ultimately remaining loyal to Gary Neville.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Given his status as one of the most influential Premier League midfielders of his era, praise from Keane may well mean more to a central midfielder than to a player in a different position.

And it’s Oxlade-Chamberlain, rather than his club and international colleague Jordan Henderson, who received glowing words from the former Man Utd man ahead of England’s European Championships qualifier against Montenegro at the end of 2019.

“I like the look of him and when you’ve got a midfielder who’s a goal threat and can put the ball in the back of the net, then it’s a huge plus,” Keane said of the former Arsenal man, who returned from a long-term injury at the end of last season.